Be possibly the worst dad ever in My Lovely Daughter

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The ‘dadification’ of games is an interesting phenomenon. As a generation of primarily male game developers settle down and start families, it’s hard not to observe a growing trend of protective father figures cropping up as game protagonists, some better at it than others.

Gothic fantasy parenting/management sim My Lovely Daughter seems a fitting antidote to all of that. An alchemist attempts to revive his lost daughter through forbidden arts, and reassembling her lost soul will require the creation, nurture and ritual murder of a procession of adoring homunculi.

So, no ‘World’s Best Dad’ mug for him, then.

My Lovely Daughter seems to be at least partly inspired by the Princess Maker series of life-management sims, although this game looks to have a somewhat more pragmatic outlook on the creation and raising of your legion of substitute children. Your amoral research needs funding, so you send them out to work around the town, buy them gifts to increase their affection, cultivate fear when necessary and make with the stabbing once their soul is fat, juicy and ready for harvest.

It’s striking and original stuff, though one thing that does concern me a little about My Lovely Daughter is the quality of the script. Developer Gamechanger Studio are based in Indonesia, and if the screenshots and trailer are any indication, it shows – there’s a distinct second-language vibe to it. A game like this needs a native English speaker to give its script a final polish-up, especially when enjoyment of the experience hinges so heavily on the atmosphere being maintained.

Still, the initial user reviews seem positive enough, although some do complain about repetition. Hopefully we’ll be able to take a closer look at this at some point, but until then we’ll just nervously stand over here with a slightly worried look on our faces.

14 Comments

As a soon-to-be father to a daughter (as well as a son), I’m giving this a big ol’ “nnnnope. Not touching that with a ten-foot pole”. From past experience games like this hit right in the feels, not in a good way, and there’s not much you can do about it–it’s just how human brains usually get rewired when they get their own offspring. The true horror of certain situations just hits you that much harder.

Also I just realized I started a comment with “as a … father”. Well crap. Doesn’t change the situation, of course.

Yeah, I don’t think a lot of non-parents understand the gaping hole that’s created in your psychic armor, when kids enter your life. The very real terror of parenting is more than enough, without being prodded by something like this.

For my part, I can’t even watch news stories with kids suffering, and will turn off any movie that involves abandonment, or abuse. I don’t know if that makes me ‘weaker’, but I know that the part of my brain involving children is now a very tender spot.

I’d never tell anyone not to make or watch it of course, but I simply can’t have that in my mind.

People complaining that the game is very repetitive with under 4 hours of game time logged? The developer suggesting it takes 4-6 hours to play? I think I’ll pass. I would like a decent English version of a relatively modern Princess Maker game, but not one that repetitive and short.

As a generation of primarily male game developers settle down and start families…

And there was me thinking that computer games started way back in the 80s, that people like me with grown up kids were playing the first iteration of Tomb Raider back in 1996, and games like Stars! and Battleground Gettysburg before that…

I suppose there´s no way to end game without killing those homonculi?
If i have to kill them i´ll just feel bad and while i assume it´s the point of the game, it´s not sort of a feeling i want to wallow in.